Shooting at Germany Airport Kills 2 U.S. Airmen

A gunman killed two American airmen and wounded two others at the Frankfurt airport on Wednesday. The body of one of the victims, above, was carried from his military bus.Credit
Daniel Roland/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

FRANKFURT — Two United States airmen on their way to Afghanistan were killed and two others were wounded Wednesday when a gunman opened fire on an American military bus at the Frankfurt airport, according to American military officials in Europe and the German police.

In Washington, President Obama said he was “saddened and outraged” by the attack. “We will spare no effort in learning how this outrageous act took place,” he said, “and in working with German authorities to ensure that all of the perpetrators are brought to justice.”

American officials in Washington said there appeared to be no immediate evidence tying the gunman to any terrorist organization. The German police did not initially classify the attack as an act of terrorism but said they were still investigating.

The suspect arrested at the scene is a 21-year-old Kosovar who lives in Frankfurt, according to a police spokesman, Manfred Füllhardt. The police charged him with murder and attempted murder, but they did not rule out terrorism charges. He was being questioned at the Frankfurt police headquarters.

The Associated Press reported that his uncle in Kosovo identified him as Arid Uka and said he was born and raised in Germany after his parents moved there about 40 years ago. The German police, however, said he was born in Kosovo, The A.P. said. The uncle, Rexhep Uka, said that the family was Muslim and that Arid Uka worked at the Frankfurt Airport. That could not be immediately confirmed.

The names of the dead were being withheld pending notification of the families. The injured were being treated at Frankfurt hospitals for wounds listed as severe in one case and serious in the other, the German police said.

Photo

A window of the driver’s seat of a military bus showed signs of the shooting.Credit
Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters

Germany has so far been spared a catastrophic terrorist attack of the kind experienced in Britain and Spain. But three of the Sept. 11, 2001, attackers lived in Germany, and security officials acknowledge that the country remains a breeding ground for Islamic radicals.

Germany, Britain, and France have been on edge since last year over warnings of the possibility of pending attacks by radicalized European citizens who might have received training in the lawless border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan. In November, the German authorities beefed up security at train stations and airports after an informant said that a group linked to Al Qaeda was planning to shoot civilians in a public place.

Mr. Füllhardt said that the dead and wounded airmen were part of a group of 13 who had just arrived from London and had boarded the bus to go to the American military base at Ramstein, about 80 miles southwest of the Frankfurt Airport. He said they were in uniform and headed for deployment in Afghanistan. The dark blue bus had United States Air Force license plates, though American military officials regularly warn their personnel in Germany not to use military license plates to be less conspicuous.

A little before 3:30 p.m. local time, the suspect argued with some of the airmen and then shot one who was standing in the open door as well as the driver, Mr. Füllhardt said. The two airmen who were wounded were also near the door. The suspect fled and was captured by a federal police officer.

The attack took place at Terminal 2, near the check-in counter for the Russian airline Aeroflot. Military buses often use the location to pick up soldiers and airmen in transit via Frankfurt, which is one of Europe’s busiest airports.

In the aftermath of the shooting, the area was rapidly cordoned off, but the terminal continued operations. A police dog sniffed the area, searching for spent cartridges. Several bullet holes were visible in the windshield of the bus, which was eventually towed away. Two carloads of men and women who appeared to be American officials arrived, but they did not speak to reporters.

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Police and paramedics at the scene where a gunman fired shots at American soldiers on a bus outside the Frankfurt airport on Wednesday, killing two people and wounding two others before being taken into custody.Credit
Michael Probst/Associated Press

An American military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the United States was not ruling out terrorism, although it was unclear if the suspect was acting alone or with partners. “I don’t know if he’s tied to a group,” said the official. “But there is enough information at this point to indicate that he identifies with Islamist terrorist ideology.”

That official also said that there were some reports indicating that, contrary to the account of the German police, the airmen were not in uniform.

When American service members travel overseas on commercial flights — and at civilian airports like the one in Frankfurt — they typically wear civilian clothes, so as not to draw attention to themselves. They are also told not to carry anything that would identify them as service members, like military bags.

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The Ramstein base is one of several major United States military installations in the Frankfurt region that serve as logistical hubs for operations in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as treatment centers for wounded service members. American soldiers and airmen are a common sight at the Frankfurt airport, itself a hub for military personnel traveling to or from bases in Germany. It has been a target in the past: in 1985, a bomb exploded at a crowded departure lounge, killing a man and two children and wounding 42 people.

Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke about the Wednesday attack in Berlin, according to Reuters, saying: “We don’t know the details but I would like to express how upset I am. We have to do everything we can to find out what happened.”

The German magazine Der Spiegel reported on its Web site that the suspect was carrying a large amount of ammunition when arrested. The police said they could not confirm that report.

A man whose office is near the site of the shooting, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect his business, said witnesses told him that the gunman shouted “God is great” in Arabic before firing. Mr. Füllhardt, the police official, said he could not confirm such reports.

A version of this article appears in print on March 3, 2011, on Page A4 of the New York edition with the headline: Gunman Kills 2 U.S. Airmen In Attack at German Airport. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe